South Korea’s brand value ranked 16th in 2013, up from 17th a year earlier, according to an annual report by Brand Finance, a London-based asset valuation consultancy firm.

The value of Korea’s brand is estimated at US$775 billion, a 7 per cent rise from the year before. Korea held 16th place in brand value for two straight years, from 2010 to 2011, but slipped to 17th spot in 2012.

Brand Finance annually ranks 100 countries around the globe according to their brand value, based on its Brand Strength Index, which is calculated by the input, throughput and output in the four categories of investment, tourism, production and human resources.

According to the recently published annual report, the United States ranked top as the most valuable national brand in 2013, with the value of $17.9 trillion, followed by China, worth $6.2 trillion, and Germany, estimated at $4 trillion.

The UK took the 4th slot, unseating Japan, which saw an 11 per cent drop from the previous year.

France, Canada, Brazil, India and Australia also made the list of the top 10 most valuable countries.

Notably, Mexico was ranked higher than Korea, with its slightly higher brand value of $810 billion.